Mandatory staff training on mental health and trauma-informed approaches
Brook House Inquiry · The Brook House Inquiry Report · Issued 19 September 2023 · Addressed to: Home Office
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
The Home Office, in conjunction with contractors, must ensure that all relevant immigration removal centre staff receive mandatory introductory and annual training on: mental health; race and diversity; a trauma-informed approach; their own resilience; drug awareness; and the purpose of immigration removal centres. This training must include the perspectives of, or be conducted in consultation with, detained people. The Home Office must also ensure, in conjunction with contractors, that new joiners must start on probation on completion of introductory training and be adequately supervised for a period of time as necessary to establish their competence to work independently.
Brook House Inquiry, The Brook House Inquiry Report · 19 Sep 2023 Source PDF →
Published evidence summary
Publicly available evidence relating to this recommendation:
- No independently published assessment of whether the revised ITC has been completed and rolled out across the estate has been identified to March 2026.
Response — verbatim from government
●Home Office
The Initial Training Course for all new contractor staff is undergoing a full review covering 'AaR, mental health awareness, racial awareness and safeguarding children', with a mentorship phase and annual refresher training.
Home Office · 19 Mar 2024 Written response →
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
- 14 Jan 2025 Angela Eagle, Written PQ 23170 (15 January 2025): 'Completed and closed as of October 2024.' Source →
- 3 Sep 2025 · HM Inspectorate of Prisons Staffing levels and capability strengthened with lower attrition rates and more visible frontline management. Training on "Monitor, Challenge and Support" process implemented. View source → Good Progress
- 19 Sep 2024 · Brook House Inquiry Chair Inquiry Chair Kate Eves described government response as "inadequate" and called for a "reset" with the new government. Warned abuse "becomes a question of when, not if" it happens again. Insufficient Progress
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.